Chapter 69 – The Siren Ocean

The magic crystal emitted a faint glow in the pitch-black depths of the sea. In this place where there was nothing to mark their progress, the descent felt especially slow. No one had ever recorded the depth of the Mermaid Sea, and Lin Wei had no way of knowing how far they had already gone.

Moreover, there was an increasingly troubling issue: as they descended further, the bubble maintained by the magic disc was visibly shrinking. Even though he had filled all the grooves with water elemental crystals, it only slowed the process slightly.

“If the bubble disappears before we reach the bottom, we’ll have to retreat in disgrace,” Lin Wei sighed softly.

He now really wished Duan Yu were a water mage—then the two of them could have easily made the trip to the seafloor and back without any trouble.

Duan Yu didn’t respond to his somewhat disheartening remark. He seemed to understand Lin Wei’s growing impatience and closed his eyes, extending his spiritual energy in another way.

A moment later, Lin Wei sensed it—there were indescribable ripples trembling faintly around them, like one ripple on the water’s surface meeting another, causing a kind of collision and resonance.

The mage spoke to him: “We’re almost there.”

“How do you know?” Lin Wei asked, slightly confused, but quickly realized: “The mermaids?”

Duan Yu opened his eyes. “Mm.”

He looked into the deep sea ahead and said to Lin Wei, “Look down.”

Lin Wei turned his head and followed his gaze, finally spotting a faint glimmer of light at the end of his line of sight.

As the two of them descended further, the light gradually grew larger, revealing an extraordinarily beautiful scene.

—If the darkness of the deep sea was like night, then now a vast galaxy had appeared in the night sky.

Countless points of light were scattered across this part of the sea, emitting a soft, milky glow that intertwined with the water to create a mesmerizing play of light and shadow.

The desolate abyss had transformed into a spectacular scene, and the two of them slowly drifted into the galaxy of stars. Lin Wei reached out a finger, touching one of the slowly drifting light points through the edge of the bubble.

The light point trembled slightly and moved closer to him.

Just like the dream of the goddess they had experienced in the Death Swamp, this light point also contained a fragment of a dream—this time, it belonged to a mermaid.

The central waters of the Siren Sea were the territory of the mermaids—a race that thrived here. Although their reproduction rate was extremely slow, they had almost no enemies in the deep sea.

There were records on the continent about mermaids, referring to them as “sirens,” and the Mermaid Sea was called the “Siren Ocean,” the end of all voyages. Legend had it that the tears of a siren would turn into the most perfect pearls—a tale that had lured countless sailors and pirates.

In the records of the magic world, the tears of mermaids did indeed have special properties, but they didn’t turn into physical pearls. Instead, they became something else—the light points Lin Wei was now touching.

Mermaids were sensitive creatures. They swam through the ocean, surfacing to sing on moonlit nights, possessing powerful water magic and spiritual energy talents that bordered on mental magic. This made the entire sea enveloped in spiritual fluctuations, which was why Duan Yu had confidently declared, “We’re almost there.”

But none of these were the most unique aspects of this race—their true peculiarity lay in their souls, something especially important for summoners.

A summoner could never use the Gate of Contracts to summon a mermaid’s soul, not because mermaids couldn’t survive outside the sea, but because their entire race existed outside the Sea of Souls that the Gate of Contracts could connect to.

“This is the Sea of Souls for the mermaid race,” Lin Wei explained in a low voice to Duan Yu after emerging from the dream. “When a mermaid is about to die, they shed continuous tears. These tears are actually their souls, carrying memories that fragment into countless light points like these. If a pair of mermaids want to have a child, they gather enough fragments here, use a special magic to erase the memories, turning them back into pure souls, and then bestow them upon their child. Only then is a new life truly born.”

“It was from the Sea of Souls of the mermaids that the earliest spirit channelers who studied souls gained inspiration. They made a hypothesis… that other races, including humans, also pass down souls generation after generation in this way. The only difference is that for other races, the reunification and purification of souls happens autonomously in another dimension, and they don’t need to expend immense energy to reshape souls to create the next generation like the mermaids do.”

“This hypothesis has never been disproven. Later, a genius spirit channeler—well, in modern terms, a summoner—created the incantation for the Gate of Contracts, allowing entry into the true Sea of Souls, where the souls of nearly all races exist. This further supported the idea—that souls neither increase nor decrease, but at different times, they belong to different people,” Lin Wei recalled the contents of the ancient texts with a smile. “—So it’s possible that part of our souls once belonged to the same person a long time ago!”

The soft glow made the mage’s silhouette appear gentler. He met Lin Wei’s bright, smiling eyes. “You’re quite remarkable.”

“I think so too,” Lin Wei reached out to touch another light point. “I didn’t realize it before, but now I find the concept of the soul truly fascinating—from the perspective of a spirit channeler, there’s never been a true birth or death since the continent’s creation. There’s only ever been a fixed number of souls… I suppose the only thing that truly belongs to us is our memories.”

The light points in the distance began to swirl violently—the Young Duke had just been struck by a rare moment of contemplation, but it was quickly interrupted by the arrival of newcomers.

The mermaids’ spiritual energy enveloped the entire area—they had clearly noticed the two intruders.

Several mermaids swam closer from various directions, evidently the guards of this place, eyeing them with caution.

Among them were both males and females, all with fish tails covered in fine blue scales. The females’ tails were lighter in color, with wider, more elaborate fins that resembled delicate fabric billowing in the water.

“Tsk…” Lin Wei also scrutinized the mermaids, seeing them more clearly now than when he had first glimpsed them on the surface a year ago.

Regardless of gender, their upper bodies were completely bare. From a human perspective, these mermaids were flawless in appearance, with long hair drifting in the water adding to their allure.

His gaze then wandered to Duan Yu. Hmm… if he were to remove his magic robe and inner robe, and add a fish tail, he could almost pass for a mermaid! Maybe even surpass them, since male mermaids were so delicately beautiful that their faces were almost indistinguishable from females, falling short of Duan Yu’s perfect balance.

Lin Wei’s mischievous gaze met the mage’s cold eyes, and he guiltily brought the conversation back on track: “Will they attack us?”

Mermaids had a good relationship with the members of the Magic Academy who traveled the Siren Sea—but only on the surface. Now the two of them had entered the true territory of this race.

And not just any territory! This place held the soul fragments crucial for the next generation of their race, and Lin Wei had just touched them. Even if this race was generally peaceful, there was no guarantee they would remain friendly under these circumstances.

“Well… it seems I was right.”

The moment they moved forward slightly, the mermaids’ bodies tensed, shifting from cautious to defensive.

Their lips began to move, and the currents around them changed direction. Although no sound could be heard, the faint fluctuations of powerful water magic could be sensed—the waves weren’t sharp, likely just binding magic.

Neither of the two was a “beast speaker” like Ansel, so they couldn’t communicate with the mermaids. Even if this wasn’t the mermaids’ intention, under their magic, Daniel’s magic disc was in danger—this was the icy deep sea, and if the bubble disappeared, no matter how strong they were, they would die, and their deaths would be gruesome.

Lin Wei’s spiritual energy had barely recovered a bit, so he summoned the water serpent he had contracted in the Death Swamp—the only water magic assistant they had at the moment.

The serpent appeared in the sea, causing the light points to swirl violently. It coiled its body around the bubble containing the two of them, shielding them from the mermaids’ magic, its head raised high, cold black eyes staring at the mermaids before it.

The lead female mermaid clearly expressed her disgust. She stared at the serpent, frowned, and small ice spikes began to form around her.

They really had no idea how to express friendliness to an unfamiliar race. The only method Lin Wei could think of was establishing a spiritual connection, but when his spiritual tendrils quietly extended, the mermaid in front of him reacted as if her tail had been burned, leaping away and projecting a strong sense of hostility, intensifying her magical attacks.

Lin Wei had to ensure the bubble they were in remained intact, so the serpent had to focus most of its energy on protecting them. Its offensive capabilities wouldn’t be as effective. He exchanged a glance with the mage beside him and took a slight step back, while Duan Yu faced the mermaid guards head-on, the two sides locked in a standoff.

The standoff didn’t last long. A simple flick of the serpent’s tongue triggered a subtle change in the situation. The mermaids’ fins stopped their gentle swaying, and they quickly dispersed, surrounding the bubble. Countless ice spikes shot toward them in a dense barrage, with the serpent’s water barrier blocking some, while the rest were intercepted by Duan Yu. Dark golden light flowed like shooting stars through this Sea of Souls, effortlessly and precisely stopping every ice spike, shattering them into tiny fragments that then solidified into semi-physical forms and shot toward the mermaids’ throats.

When it came to sharpness, force, and coldness, water magic couldn’t compare to metal magic—even if it formed solid ice. Duan Yu’s magic seemed born for attack and slaughter.

In theory, everything on the continent was connected to magic elements. Each element of the natural system had corresponding physical forms, and the amount of these forms determined the density of the elements. The majority elements included water, fire, earth, and wind, while the minority ones included lightning and other magical attributes. But Lin Wei always felt that Duan Yu’s metal element was somewhat special—the Young Duke had been a good student when it came to learning magic, likely because he hadn’t been exposed to true magical knowledge in his past life. Over the past year, he had read many books on the subject.

The metal element—the only physical forms it could be connected to were the metals used in smelting and forging. The thin, sharp daggers and swords crafted by skilled artisans did share some similarities with the characteristics of this type of magic, but these physical forms didn’t seem sufficient to make it one of the six main magical attributes, standing alongside water and wind, and even having its own Valley of Elements.

He thought to himself that he would have to ask Duan Yu about this someday.

The Sea of Souls continued to ripple, and Lin Wei looked around. “More mermaids are coming.”

It seemed the few mermaids had summoned their companions somehow. Now, about a hundred of them surrounded the two. They no longer seemed as cautious as before, instead tilting their chins slightly upward, their tails swaying in a confident, triumphant manner, all watching the two humans in the center as if they were trophies or prisoners.

“I have to say,” Lin Wei touched his nose, “they’re a bit disgusting.”

When there were only a few, each mermaid looked exquisite. But when there were many, their appearances and voluptuous bodies no longer stood out—all that was noticeable were the many identical long tails, which made someone who rarely saw such creatures feel a bit uneasy.

Duan Yu glanced at him sideways, his expression calm, as if the dense crowd of mermaids didn’t concern him at all. “You can close your eyes.”

Lin Wei shook his head, a malicious smile curling his lips as he grinned at the mermaids.

The mage’s arm wrapped around his waist, suddenly lifting him to a higher position. A magical attack, accompanied by spiritual energy fluctuations, instantly spread across the sea, a cold, sharp aura sweeping through the mermaid group.

The mermaids, accustomed to using incantations, hadn’t expected such a swift and intense magical assault. Their movements as they tried to evade were somewhat panicked. Some of them closed their eyes, preparing to unleash the mental attacks their race was most proud of.

Unfortunately for them, their opponent was Duan Yu—Lin Wei had no doubt that this man’s spiritual energy had already reached the level of an Archmage, if not higher.

—And mermaids could never reach the level of an Archmage in their lifetime.

The mermaids who had prepared mental attacks found that it didn’t work and opened their eyes in frustration, quickly launching one water-based attack after another.

At the same time, the intensity of Duan Yu’s attacks suddenly increased. His methods were no longer limited to flying blades and streams of light. Thin, cold, and sharp dark golden threads instantly crisscrossed the sea, forming an inescapable cage that confined each mermaid to an extremely narrow space. Any slight movement would result in their delicate, smooth skin being cut—the mage clearly had no intention of showing any mercy to these beautiful creatures.

They froze in place, a stark contrast to their earlier confidence. The swirling light points of souls gradually settled, and the sea fell silent once more.

Lin Wei watched as the mage effortlessly restrained them, feeling a bit proud.

He thought to himself that if he ever had children, this deep-sea adventure would make for a great story to boast about as one of his “youthful exploits,” just like how the Duke often recounted his many victories on the battlefield when he was young—he and his mage had ventured into the legendary “forbidden Siren Ocean” on a whim and effortlessly defeated an entire race of sirens, forcing them to submit in defeat!

Lin Wei seemed to think of something and glanced at the mage, who had once been flawless in his eyes—now, that wasn’t entirely true, as there was one aspect that didn’t quite satisfy him… this guy didn’t seem to have the talent for having children.

He sighed regretfully, conceding to this fact—stories could always be told to younger siblings, and Eddy would probably enjoy it.

What brought Lin Wei’s attention back to the present was a small golden figure at the periphery. A small mermaid with golden hair and a golden tail swam over from a distance, anxiously circling the area, its gaze fixed on Duan Yu in the center.

“Is that the one we saw before?”